User:Darb02/sandbox


 * Special:WhatLinksHere/Hormel Historic Home
 * Special:WhatLinksHere/St. Augustine's Church (Austin, Minnesota)
 * Special:WhatLinksHere/The Berenstain Bears Meet Bigpaw
 * Special:WhatLinksHere/The Berenstain Bears' Christmas Tree
 * Special:WhatLinksHere/John Zdechlik
 * Special:WhatLinksHere/Frank Bencriscutto
 * Special:WhatLinksHere/Celeste Raspanti
 * Special:WhatLinksHere/Berenstain Bears (Atari 2600 game)
 * Special:WhatLinksHere/Austin, Minnesota
 * Special:WhatLinksHere/Spam Museum
 * Special:WhatLinksHere/Hormel Institute

The Hormel Institute is a biomedical research center located in Austin, Minnesota. Founded in 1942, the institute is a division of the University of Minnesota with scientists focusing primarily on cancer research. The Hormel Institute receives significant support from the Mayo Clinic.

Gameplay
The player has three games to choose from, each teaching basic skills related to letters, numbers, and simple words. At the beginning of each game, an introduction is made by Actual Factual Bear. Next, Brother Bear appears on a unicycle; music plays in the background while Actual Factual explains the objective of the game: Stay on the road An easy trick The joystick will do it Hurry! Be Quick!

Push to the left To go that way Push to the right And you'll be OK!

There'll be things to do, Things to learn, Honeypot and beehive Points to earn.

Numbers to catch, Numbers to add And subtract, And when Actual Factual Tells you friends - ...It's a fact!

All three games begin with an action component, in which Brother Bear travels down a road on his unicycle. The player is presented with the challenges of avoiding boulders in the road and crossing a bridge as it opens and closes. As the player successfully navigates the path, they can earn bonus prizes, consisting of honeypots an beehives.

The primary objective of the cartridge is educational in nature with three game options: "Big Number Hunt," in which the player (Brother Bear), while on his unicycle, attempts to catch the correct numbers as they fall from the tree; "Great Letter Roundup," where the player attempts to catch the correct letters as they fall from the tree; and "Spooky Spelling Bee," where the player tries to spell a word by catching the letters falling from the tree.

The gameplay is very similar to the arcade game Kick.

Kid Vid Voice Module
The Kid Vid Voice Module is an Atari 2600 peripheral controller developed by engineer Ralph Baer in 1978. The Kid Vid module and the accompanying Sound Story cassettes are required for game play; without the module, game play is not possible. The module is a lo-fi audio cassette player that connects to the game system. The dual-purpose audio player gives instructions to the player while also proving necessary sound cues to the game cartridge, prompting the next action. According to Baer, "the overall effect of the natural voice....is much more like a children's TV program than a video game."

The Kid Vid system was bundled with one game, Smurfs Save the Day. The Berenstain Bears cartridge and Sound Story cassettes were sold separately, and other games related to the Dr. Seuss brand were planned.

Initial enthusiasm for the Kid Vid system was high. Video Games magazine delivered an extensive and positive review of the module in their December 1983 issue. The article praised the unit as a "solid addition" to the Coleco line of electronics. The review praised the design, price point, as well as saying it had "real educational capabilities [f]or young children" and that it "can serve entertainment purposes and educational purposes."

The Kid Vid system did not sell well, however, and no additional games were ever released for the module. Coleco turned its attention to other projects, namely the Adam home computer, and The Berenstain Bears quickly disappeared from circulation. Collectors consider the cartridge rare.